Custom Running Kit Manufacturer for Athletics Clubs

Athletics clubs order three kits, not one: track, cross-country and road

An athletics club's kit list is shaped by its calendar. Track and field in summer needs vests, sprint shorts, half tights and speedsuits; cross-country in autumn and winter needs the same club vest over long-sleeve base layers with gilets and rain shells for the start line; road relays and distance leagues bring in relay vests and club tees that members wear every week. ZipaSports makes all of it under one order from 20–25 pieces per design.

The whole discipline is listed under custom athletics teamwear. Clubs normally place the vest first and add the rest as the committee agrees a budget.

Fabric and GSM for each athletics garment

A running vest is made in 100% polyester interlock or pin-dot mesh at 140–180 GSM with a moisture-wicking finish. Clubs racing mainly on summer tracks choose the lighter mesh end; clubs whose vest goes over a base layer at a muddy November cross-country lean towards interlock, which also holds fine crest detail better in the print.

Stretch garments for sprinters are cut from the same 4-way stretch fabric used for compression wear, so the elastane content is what keeps a speedsuit in place out of the blocks. GRS-certified recycled polyester can be specified on request. Fabric pages: polyester interlock, polyester mesh, polyester-spandex and moisture-wicking fabric.

Registered club colours, bib space and sponsor placement

In most athletics federations an athlete competes in the colours their club has registered, so the vest ZipaSports makes must match the club's registered design rather than the other way round. Send the registered colour description or the existing vest, and the mockup is built to it; a Pantone reference is matched in sublimation and kept on file so next year's vest is the same shade.

Two practical rules shape the artwork. First, race numbers are pinned to the front, and at some events to the back as well, so the centre panels should carry the club name and colour blocks rather than fine artwork that a bib will hide. Second, sponsor size and placement are regulated differently by each federation and league; check the current rule for your competition before approving the mockup, and we position marks to it.

A club that races road relays in a second colour to separate A and B teams orders it as a second design, exactly like a home and away kit. Mesh side panels, contrast piping and reflective trim on rain shells are all specified on the mockup. Names on the back, useful for relay vests and championship teams, are sublimated into the vest as part of the print; see names, numbers and sponsor logos.

Sublimated vests, embroidered warm-ups and printed club hoodies

Vests, shorts, tights and speedsuits are fully dye-sublimated: the club colours, crest, sponsor marks and any athlete names are printed into the polyester in one pass, which is why a sublimated vest weighs nothing extra and does not crack or peel at the crest. Warm-up and travel pieces are decorated by whichever method suits their fabric.

Tackle twill lettering is available but rarely used in athletics; it belongs on heavyweight jackets rather than a race vest. The 24-hour mockup shows each method in position so the committee approves the whole kit at once.

Juniors, women's cuts and mixed sizes within 20–25 pieces per design

Mixed sizes are allowed within the 20–25 pieces per design minimum. A club vest order of twenty-two pieces can be four juniors, nine women's and nine men's if that is the membership, and lower quantities are possible on request for a small section.

Sizing runs adult XS–5XL, women's XS–4XL and youth sizes, all graded on computerised patterns so the crest and colour blocks sit in the same place on a junior vest as on a men's 2XL. Women's cuts are shorter in the body with a narrower shoulder; women's crop tops and athletics briefs are separate patterns with their own charts.

Distance runners and sprinters often want the same vest in different fits, a looser cut for the road group and a closer cut for the track group; treat these as two cuts of one design and tell us the split. A fully custom size chart can be drawn for a club whose members fall outside the standard grade. Ask athletes to measure chest and body length against the chart sent with the mockup; tolerance within the chart is ±1–1.5 cm, and a size picked wrongly by the athlete is not covered by the guarantee.

Ordering around the season calendar

Work backwards from the first fixture. A free digital mockup comes back within 24 hours, an optional physical sample takes 5–7 days, bulk production takes 15–25 business days after approval, and DHL, FedEx or UPS delivery to the UK, Europe, USA, Canada or Australia takes 5–10 days, so a club should brief ZipaSports around ten weeks before the first league match or championship.

These are planning windows built from the published lead times, not fixed dates; a club that needs kit faster can use express production in 7–12 days at additional cost. Business days exclude weekends and Pakistani public holidays. Where a club is unsure of its exact fixture list, approve the design early and confirm the size breakdown later, because production cannot start until the sizes are locked.

New members through the year: how reorders are matched

Running clubs sign members every month, so the vest order is never really finished. ZipaSports keeps the approved print file, Pantone references, size chart and label artwork on record, and a reorder is made from those files rather than from a fresh brief; lower quantities than the 20–25 minimum are possible on request for a handful of new members, and express production in 7–12 days is available if a new member has a championship coming up.

Three things keep a reorder consistent with the original batch. The design is not re-drawn, so the crest position and colour blocks are identical. The same fabric specification is used, so the weight and finish match. The colour references are matched again in sublimation, so the shade sits within normal dye-lot tolerance; a minor difference between dye lots is normal in textiles and is not treated as a defect.

Many clubs run a simple system: the kit secretary collects new-member sizes for a fixed period, then places one top-up alongside the annual hoodie or training-jacket order. That groups the courier costs and keeps every vest in the club from the same print file.

What the club kit secretary sends

Send the following in one email or WhatsApp message and the mockup is back within 24 hours.

A club with no artwork can send a sketch or a description; the free design service produces the first mockup, with unlimited revisions before approval. The team kit buying guide for clubs covers the process step by step; the clubs hub lists other sports.

Delivery to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Europe, and the Quality Guarantee

Athletics kit leaves the ZipaSports factory in Sialkot, Pakistan by DHL, FedEx or UPS and reaches the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Europe in 5–10 days; sea freight at 3–6 weeks suits a large county or league order where the date allows. Every consignment carries a commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin. Import duty and VAT are payable by the club as importer on arrival unless otherwise agreed at quotation. The pages for the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and EuropeIrelandNew ZealandUAESaudi Arabia explain each market.

Quality Guarantee: if any garment arrives with a manufacturing defect, we remake it free of charge, and the remake goes into production within 3 days of your report. A crest printed off the approved mockup, an open seam, skipped stitches or a wrong size against the approved specification are covered; send photos and the order reference within 7 days of delivery and we confirm within 24 hours in business hours, then ship replacements at no charge or issue a credit if the club prefers. Minor dye-lot shade and a size chosen wrongly by an athlete are not defects, and made-to-order kit cannot be returned for change of mind. Details are on the Quality Guarantee and shipping policy pages.